Critical roles of implicit interpersonal information in communication

Recent studies of cognitive science have convincingly demonstrated that human behavior, decision making and emotion depend heavily on “implicit mind,” that is, automatic, involuntary mental processes even the person herself/himself is not aware of. Such implicit processes may interact between partners, producing a kind of “resonance,” in which two or more bodies and brains, coupled via sensorimotor systems, act nearly as a single system. The basic concept of this project is that such “implicit interpersonal information (IIPI)” provides the basis for smooth and effective communication. We have been developing new methods to decode IIPI from brain activities, physiological responses, and body movements, and to control IIPI by sensorimotor stimulation and non-invasive brain stimulation. Here, we detail on two topics from the project, namely, interpersonal synchronization of involuntary body movements as IIPI, and autism as an impairment of IIPI. The findings of the project would provide guidelines for developing human-harmonized information systems.